Lubricating device



Jan. 5, 1932. s, E. BA1-Es 1,839,190

LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 24, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 5,1932. 's E, BATES 1,839,190

LUBRIGATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 24, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 5, 1932. I s E, BATES l 1,839,190

LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 24., 192 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 5, 1932. s. E. BATES 1,839,190

' LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 2 4, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fa@ 70a Patented Jan. 5, 119,32

UNI'IzED# sTATEs PATENT OFFICE SIDNEY E. BATES, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 MIAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS' nunmca'rme DEvIeE Application filed August 24, 1928. Serial No. 801,741.

My inventionrelates to. lubricating devices and has to do more particularly with devices for lubricating a rail and iange of a car 1g due to the enormous lateral thrust thereon by car wheel flanges as a result of centrifugal force generated in traversing curves. This thrust is, of course, applied on the inner side of the rail face, upon which side the flange 15; of the wheel' bears, and the wear at said points is so greatthat curve rails must fre. quently be replaced. Attempts have been made in the past to solvethisv difficulty by manually greasing the-rails at the points of.

2a greatest wear, but obviously, this is. an expensive and unsatisfactory procedure. In some instances the wheels of the locomotive or car have been sprayed with oil, but this method has not been entirely satisfactory.

An object of my invention is to provide a lubricating. device which isl attachable to a rail 4and -adapted to be operated by a car Wheell in passing thereover, in order that grease may be ejected along the face of the w rail, wheel operable means being also provided for distributing the grease on the face of the rail.,

vAnother object is to provide such a` device which will be simple in construction and certain ill-operation, as well as rugged.

Still ajurther object is to provide a lubricant ejector in combination with a container which will adapt its walls to the contents 4@ thereof, in order that air may not be drawn into the ejector. Y

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herem shown and described will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the u as disclosure herein given.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parte herein shown and described,

` and more particularly pointed out in the W claims.

Referring to the drawings forming a part of this specification:

Fig. 1 illustrates a plan view oa rail to which a device embodying my invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a rail with the device applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation taken' from the opposite side of the rail from that of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8 8 voiEfFig.. 35

Fig. 9 1s a sectional view taken on line 9 9- of Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a rail showing another embodiment of my invention mounted thereon;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken through line 11-11 of Fig.`10'; and Fig. 12 is a sectional Qiew line 12-12 of Fig. 11. l

ln the drawings, a d ice representing a taken through preferred embodiment iof my invention is by bolts and nuts 14 or other suitable means.'

At its opposite end this lever is slidably mounted on a bolt 15 carried on the bracket 16, this bracket being secured to the rail similarly to the bracket 13. A nut and lock nut 17 are secured on the bolt 15 for retaining the lever thereon, while a helicalspring 18 coiled around the bolt 15 resiliently urges l the lever toward an elevated position. The lever 12 is mounted in such a way that in its normal position it is elevated slightly above the upper face of the rail, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, in order that it may contact with the tread of a wheel rolling thereover.

Intermediate of the ends of the lever 12 are pivotally mounted a pair of links 20 and 20 (Fig. 5) and integral with the links are ratchet segments 22 and 22. A housing 27 secured to the rail by means of bolts 27, carries a pair of leaf springs 28 and Y28 Rotatably journaled in the housing is a ratchet wheel 30 carried by a shaft 40. As will be clearly seen in Fig. 5, the ratchet segments 22 and 22 are resiliently urged toward the ratchet wheel 30 by the leaf springs 28 and 28. The teeth on the ratchet segments are oppositely disposed: that is to say, the operative faces of the teeth of one segment are disposed downwardly while those of the other segment are disposed upwardly, so that on the downward movement of the lever 12 and of the segments carried thereby, the

ratchet wheel 31 will be given a partial rotation by means of the segment whose faces are disposed downwardly, the teeth of the other segment at the same time sliding over the teeth of the ratchet wheel. @n the other hand, when the lever 12 returns to its elevated position, the teeth of theother segment will Vengage the teeth of the ratchet wheel to continue the rotation while the teeth of the first segment will slide inoperatively over the teeth of the ratchet wheel. By means of this arrangement it will be seen that the ratchet wheel receives a partial turn on both the downward and upward movements of the lever 12. By providing a series of teeth on the arcuate surface of each ratchet segment, one or more of the teeth will always be in proper position to engage the ratchet wheel 30 in any position of vertical adjustment of the lever 12 and of the segments carried thereby. s

Carried by the ratchet wheel 30 on its opposite faces are a pair of friction rings 33 and 34 of fiber, leather or similar material. The friction ring 34 bears against a ring 35 keyed on theshaft, while the friction ring 33 contacts with a ring 38 also keyed on the shaft. This shaft is rotatably journaled in the housing 27 by means of a bearing 41.

A helical spring 42 is disposed on the shaft 40 and is retained by means of a nut 43 threaded on the shaft. A coupling member 45 connects the shaft 40 with a shaft 46 aligned therewith and passing through a side wall of a lubricant container 47, this container being mounted on a supporting plate 44 which is secured to the rail by brackets 25 retained by bolts 26. Packing glands 48 are disposed on the shaft 46 outside of the container while packing glands 49 are arranged on the shaft inside the container and adjacent a gear pump 50, or other suitable type of pump or lubricant eJector.

A cover 52 is provided for the receptaclev 47 and has an aperture 53 therein for the admission of air. rThe cover 52 may be screw threaded on the receptacle or attached by any other suitable means. The receptacle 47 is preferably cylindrical in shape and has a disc' plunger 54 slidable therein, this plunger having a depending ange 55 in which is seated a gasket 56. The construction of the pump is not shown in detail, this member 'being of a construction that is well known in the art and may in fact be of any suitable design.

A pipe 58 communicates with the pump and passing through a wall of the receptacle 47 extends under the rail 10 where it communicates on the other side with a grease distributing apparatus indicated generally at 60. This distributing apparatus comprises a channel bar 61 extending along side of the rail and having one of its flanges contiguous to a side face of the rail. On the side of the channel referred to is a longitudinal facing strip 62 of leather, liber or similar material. A tubular member 63 extends longitudinally of the channel member and communicates with the outside of the flange by means of conduits 64 leading to grooves 65 on the face of the channel. A tubular member 67 communicates with the longitudinal tubular member 63 and is threaded into a coupling 68. A piece of flexible tubing 6 9 connects the tubular member 58 with the coupling 68. A plate 71 is disposed longitudinally of the rail and bears against a flange of the channel 61 for guiding it. This plate may be retained in position by means of bolts 72 extending through the rail or by other suitable means.

The channel member is secured adjacent its ends to yokes 73 (Fig. 8) by means of bolts 74, helical springs 75 being disposed between the inner leg of the yoke and the inner flange of the channel. ntegral with each of the yokes 73 is a bolt 77 slidably disposed in a sleeve 78 integral with a bracket 79, a nut 80 of the castellated or other suitable type being secured on the end of the bolt. A helical spring 81 is disposed around each of the bolts 77 for resiliently urging the channel 6l in elevated position. The bracket face of the rail 10 and on the outside thereof,

so that when a car wheel passes over the rail its tread will necessarily contact with the lever, depressing it. As the lever moves downwardly, the ratchet segments 22 and 22 carried by the links 2O and 20 will bear against the ratchet wheel 30, one of the ratchet segments, say the segment 22, sliding inoperatively over the ratchet teeth while the other segment will engage the teeth to rotate the ratchet Wheel; While on the return movement of the lever 12 causedby the spring 18 the ratchet segment 22 will slide inoperatively over the teeth of the wheel while the segment22 will engage them to continue the rotation. rlhis rotation Will be transmitted frictionally to the shafts and 46 by means of the friction rings 33 and 34, thus actuating the pump 50 by means whichare well understood. 1t will be ap-parent that the nut43 may be rotated on the shaft 40 to adjust the tension of the spring 42 to the vdesired degree in order that the friction rings 33 and 34 Will transmit the motion from the ratchets to the shaft. lt will also be readily apparent that the coupling member 45 may be dispensed with, and a single shaft used instead of the two shafts 40 and 46. However, the coupling permits ready disconnecting of the receptacle 47 and pump 50 from the'rest Aof the apparatus. The pump 50 will force lubricant into the conduit 58, the disc 54 at the same time moving down in the receptacle as the grease content of the receptacle is reduced, because of the air pressure admitted through the aperture 53 in the cover 52. rlhe lubricant is forced through the flexible conduit 69, the pipe 67, and into the tubular member 63 lon- I gitudinal with the channel 61, whence it is extruded through the orifices 64 into the slots 65. The channel 61, as described above, is on the inside of the rail and elevated to such an extent that itsfupper surface will lie in the path of theriange of a wheel passing there-` over and because of its resilient mounting on the yokes 73, the channel member will eX- ecute a sort of rocking movement as a Wheel passes thereover. r1`his is permitted of course, by means of the flexible coupling 69. As the channel rocks or oscillates, the lubricant will be wiped out of the notches 65 and smeared on the side face of the rail where it will be further distributed by the facing member 62. Obviously, as the flange of the car wheel moves along the rail, it will pick up portions of lubricant which have previously been extruded along the face of the rail and will further distribute it.

Figs. 10, 11, and 12 show a modified form of my invention in which. a single member serves both as an actuating lever and as a lubricant distributing member. To a rail 100 is attached a lubricant container 101 of substantially the same construction as the container 47, in the embodiment previously described, this container being mounted on a rail by means of brackets 102 and 103 passing thereunder and secured by bolts or other suitable means. A lubricant ejector 105 is disposed within the container and attached to an actuating shaft indicated lgenerally at bar v111 is disposed longitudinally and along side of the inner face of the rail. This bar may conveniently be formed of a channel member, as shown in Fig. 11, and is of substantially the same construction as the channel bar 61 shown in Figs. 4 and 8, and sup ported in substantially the same manner as the channel bar 6l. As in the other embodiment, a flexible conduit 107 connects the lubri cant conduit 108 passing from the container 101, with a lubricant conduit 109 in the channel member..v A ratchet wheel 110 is mounted on one end of the shaft 106 and is actuated by means of ratchet segments 112 pivotally carried by the channel 111 and resiliently urged toward the ratchet wheel by leaf springs 114. As in the previous embodiment, the motion from the ratchet'wheel is transmitted/ to the shaft by means of frictional disks indicated generally at 116, and a helical spring 117 and nut 118 are provided on the shaft for varying the frictional pressure as desired. l

It is believed that from the above description the operation of this embodiment of the invention will be readily apparent. Obviously, the shaft 106, and the parts associated therewith, may be placed anywhere along the bar 111, inasmuch as the motion at any point the same manner as that of the otherv em,

bodiment.

1t will be readily apparent that a device e embodying my invention may be applied to a rail without removing the same and Without altering it except for the drilling of bolt holes. Conversely, the device may be readily demounted from the rail and parts re. moved or replaced with very jslight effort. Bue to the frictional, rather than positive, connection between the ratchet Wheel 30 and the pump, should any derangement or clog-l ging occur in the pump, the rotation of the wheel will result simply in lost motion and no danger will be caused to the pump parts.

In the claims, the word pump will be used to include any suitable means for forcing grease tothe distributing means.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifica tions may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence Ido not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, or uses mentioned.

What l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters ljatent is:

l. In a device of the class described, a lubricant container, means actuable by a car 5 wheel for ejecting lubricant from said container, movable means also actuable by a car wheel for distributing lubricant on a rail face., andaconduitfor conveying the ejected lubricant from said container to said distributing lo means. v

2. ln a device of the class described, a lubricantcontainer,means for ejecting lubricant from said container, means actuable by a car wheel passing thereover for operating said ejecting means, movable means also actuable by a car wheel for distributing lubricant on a face of said rail, and a conduit for conveying the ejected lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

3. In a device of the class described, a lubricant container,apump associated with said container for ejecting lubricant therefrom, actuable by a car wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, movable means also actuable by a car wheel fordistributing lubri- 1,cant on a face of a rail, and a conduit for conveying the ejected lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

4. n a device of the class described, a lubricant container, a pump associated with said container for ejecting lubricant therefrom,

means comprising a lever actuable by a car Wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, movable means also actuable by a car wheel for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and a conduit for conveying lubricant from said pump container to said distributing means.

5. .In a device of the class described, a lubricantcontainer,apu1np associated with said container for ej ecting lubricant therefrom, a.

lever actuable by a car wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, means for resiliently urging said lever in the path of a car wheel, coupling means between said lever and said pump permitting actuation of said pump on both the positive and retractive movements of said lever, means for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and a conduit for conveying lubricant from said pump to said distributing means.

6. In a device of the class described, a lubricantcontainer,apump associated with said container for ejecting lubricant therefrom, a lever actuable by a car wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, means for resiliently urging said lever in the path of a car Wheel, coupling means between said lever and said pump permitting actuation of said pump on both the positive and retractive movements of said lever, movable means also actuable by a car wheel for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and a conduit for conveying lubricant from said pump to said distributing means.

7 ln a device of the class described, a lubricant container, a pump for ejecting lubricant therefrom, a lever actuable by a wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, a shaft connected to said pump and having a ratchet wheel mounted thereon, means for resiliently urging said lever in the path of a car wheel, ratchet means carried by said lever for actuating said ratchet wheel on both the positive and retractive movements of said lever, means for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and means for conveying lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

8. In a device of the class described, a lubricant container, a pump for ejectin lubricant therefrom, a tread bar actuabe by a Wheel passing thereover for operating said pump, a shaft connected to said pump and having a ratchet wheel mounted thereon, means for resiliently urging said tread bar in the path of a car wheel, a pair of ratchet segments carried by said tread bar for actuating said ratchet wheel on both the positive and retractive movements of said tread bar, means for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and means for conveying lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

9. ln a device of the class described, a lubricant container, a pump for ejecting lubricant therefrom, a tread bar actuable by awheel passing thereover for operating said pump, a shaft connected to said pump and having a ratchet Wheel mounted thereon, means for resiliently urging said tread bar in the path oi a car wheel, a pair of ratchet segments pivotally carried by said tread bar and having oppositely disposed teeth for actuating said ratchet on both the positive and retractive movements of said tread bar, resilient means urging said segments into contact with said ratchet, means for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail, and mea-ns for conveying lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

l0. ln a device of the class described, and in combination with a rail, a lubricant container, means mounted alongside of said rail and actuable by a car wheel Jfor ejecting lubricant therefrom, means comprising a bar movably mounted alongside of a rail on the opposite side thereof and engageable with a car wheel for distributing lubricantion a face of said rail, a conduit for carrying said ejected lubricant to the distributing means, and means for securing said ejecting means and said distributing means to said rail.

11. In a. device of the class described, a lubricant container, means actuable by a car wheel for ej ccting lubricant therefrom, means `comprising a reciprocable member mountable alongside of a rail for distributing lubricant on a face of said rail, resilient means for urging said distributing means toward said rail,

means for resiliently urging said distributing means in the path of a car wheel, and means comprising a iiezn'ble member for conveying lubricant from said container to said distributing means.

12. In a device of the class described, a lubricant distributing apparatus comprising a ar bar, resilient means for mounting said adjacent its ends so as to permit rocking movement thereof, said means yieldably urging said bar upwardly, means yieldably urging said bar laterally, a'nd a conduit extending longitudinally of said bar, said conduit and said bar having communicating orifices leading to the surface of said bar for permitting the extrusion of lubricant therefrom.

13. In a device of the class described, a lubricant distributing apparatus comprising a bar, resilient means for mounting said bar adjacent its ends so as to permit rocking movement thereof, said means yieldably urging said bar upwardly, means yieldably urging said bar laterally, means extending longitudinally of said bar for guiding the same,

.and a conduit extending longitudinally of said bar, said conduit and said bar having communicating orifices leading to the surface of said bar for permitting the extrusion of lubricant therefrom.

14. In a device of the class described, a lubricant distributing a paratus comprising a bar, resilient means. or mounting said bar adjacent its ends so as to permit rocking movement thereof, said means yieldably urging said bar upwardly, means yieldably urging said bar laterally, a conduit extending longitudinally of said bar, said conduit and said bar havin communicating orifices leading to the sur ace of said bar for permitting the extrusion of'lubricant therefrom, and a exible facing member on said bar for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail.

15. In a device of the class described, a lubricant distributing apparatus comprising a bar, resilient means for mounting said bar adjacent its ends so as to permit rocking movement thereof, said means yieldably urging said bar upwardly, means yieldably urgin said bar laterally, means extending longitu 'nally of said bar for guiding the same, a conduit extending longitudinallyA of said bar, said conduit and said bar having communieating orifices leading to the surface of said bar for permitting the extrusion of lubricant therefrom, and a flexible facing member on said bar for distributing lubricant on a face of a rail.

16. In a device of the class described, a lubricant container, means associated with 6 said-container for ejecting lubricant therefrom, movable distributing means connected to said ejector and operable b a car wheel for actuating said ejector and gbr simultaneously distributing lubricant on a rail, said last named means and said container being operated by the movement of this means for rotatin the shaft, driving connections between t e shaft and pumping means, a lubricant distributing member adapted to be mounted at the opposite side of the rail and extend longitudinally thereof, said member containing a main lubricant conduit, a conduit passing beneath the rail for connecting this main conduit with the discharge Ooutlet from the pump, said distributing member being formed with a plurality of discharge passages spaced apart longitudinally of the rail and leading from the main conduit to discharge openings at the side of the railhead. v

18. In a rail lubricator of the class described, the combination of a lubricant reservoir, a pumping means for forcing lubricant from the reservoir, an actuatin mechanism mounted at one'side of a rail an comprising a rotary shaft, a means adapted to be depressed by a car wheel, and connections operated by the movement of this means for rotating the shaft, flexible driving connections between the shaft and pumping means, a lubricant distributing member adapted to be mounted at the opposite side of the rail and extend longitudinally thereof, said member containing a main lubricant conduit, a conduit passing beneath the rail for connecting this main conduit with the discharge outlet from the pump, said distributing member being formed with a plurality of discharge passages spaced apart longitudinally of the rail and leading from the main conduit to discharge openings at the side of the railhead.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto SIDNEY E. BATES lsigned my name. 

